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Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

#53,081
hardtop said:
Sure, I mean, bands still get "discovered" right? haha. but, seriously, there are, especially in metal, a lot of labels that put out music just for the love of it. Dark Decent, 20 Buck Spin, Profound Lore among others. I know a couple of these guys and I assure you they're not getting rich putting out death metal. In fact, its much more of the non-profit model than they'd probably want to admit. Make just enough money to cover costs and put food on the table and keep putting out music they like.
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I hope you're right!
Every time I read stuff about how things work people say no one would even give you a gig if you don't have socials with xyz fans... and I imagined same goes for labels. :atoz:
 
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#53,085
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#53,088
oZZma said:
I wonder if there is any chance that a label would be willing to invest any time and/or money on a band solely for the music even in the band doesn't already have a fanbase. I guess that living like a hermit and having no friends nor "network" is pretty much a death sentence to any idea of "finding a label/printing records" I may have had.
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yeah i know band that has a small following on one of the biggest stoner/doom labels today. they're not a full time band and don't tour but the label thinks they can still sell enough records. i'm actually really surprised at how little impact the label has had on their popularity. i figured they'd be a "household" name (in this scene) like monolord or elder by now but that really hasn't happened. and after all that, they no longer own the rights to their music so you really never know.

we can't afford to pay for recording, art abd vinyl ouselves. we have a line of credit that we use and then payback as we sell records or play shows. when money is not coming in we split the min monthly payments which works out to about $25 each until we get more cash flowing in. typically we breakeven and make enough to pay for a few recording sessions for the next album.
 
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#53,089
bassboysam said:
yeah i know band that has a small following on one of the biggest stoner/doom labels today. they're not a full time band and don't tour but the label thinks they can still sell enough records. i'm actually really surprised at how little impact the label has had on their popularity. i figured they'd be a "household" name (in this scene) like monolord or elder by now but that really hasn't happened. and after all that, they no longer own the rights to their music so you really never know.
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You could help them out by telling us who it is so we can check them out :)
 
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#53,091
bassboysam said:
yeah i know band that has a small following on one of the biggest stoner/doom labels today. they're not a full time band and don't tour but the label thinks they can still sell enough records. i'm actually really surprised at how little impact the label has had on their popularity. i figured they'd be a "household" name (in this scene) like monolord or elder by now but that really hasn't happened. and after all that, they no longer own the rights to their music so you really never know.

we can't afford to pay for recording, art abd vinyl ouselves. we have a line of credit that we use and then payback as we sell records or play shows. when money is not coming in we split the min monthly payments which works out to about $25 each until we get more cash flowing in. typically we breakeven and make enough to pay for a few recording sessions for the next album.
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Good strategy.

Yeah, I think we agree that labels can only help so much. Touring is a pretty critical part of that growth, for whatever reason, and the label can sometimes open doors along those lines. A lot of labels won't bother with a band that is unwilling to tour at all, so the band you are referencing may be kind of unique. Anyway, it's definitely not a given that a label can help a band or that it's the best way to go.
But, both the household name bands you mentioned do tour. Elder maybe not as much as they used to, but Monolord came through Denver 3 times in the last year and toured Europe extensively. Coincidence that you mentioned those two bands because their collective sound guy is a friend of mine.

I'm trying to guess the band. Are they Canadian?
 
#53,092
hardtop said:
Good strategy.

Yeah, I think we agree that labels can only help so much. Touring is a pretty critical part of that growth, for whatever reason, and the label can sometimes open doors along those lines. A lot of labels won't bother with a band that is unwilling to tour at all, so the band you are referencing may be kind of unique. Anyway, it's definitely not a given that a label can help a band or that it's the best way to go.
But, both the household name bands you mentioned do tour. Elder maybe not as much as they used to, but Monolord came through Denver 3 times in the last year and toured Europe extensively. Coincidence that you mentioned those two bands because their collective sound guy is a friend of mine.

I'm trying to guess the band. Are they Canadian?
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they are canadian
 
#53,094
Jolagh said:
Like hardtop said, we are mainly looking for the help to produce physical music, mainly vinyl and whatever PR assistance we can get. We are hoping to have a mostly complete package to deliver to whatever label to help us actually release the thing.
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Yep, I've released two records and am working on a third. I've been fortunate enough that my bandmates and I have been able to finance them, so we got control from A to Z. We did work with a label for the release, and their distribution helped at least to get some boxes of records off our hands and out in the world. In turn, some folks we don't know and will never play for have bought our records and heard them. I love that.

So, I'd prefer to go into debt (or spend my spare cash) myself on my own terms. I only have to browbeat 3 other guys into my vision, or they browbeat me into theirs. I have known folks who in the bad old days went in debt to a record company, and know folks who did well for themselves eventually. If you don't have the ability to bankroll it yourself by hook or by crook, be careful who ya sign up with.

The flipside of this is when you bankroll the whole thing (including pressing and covers) yourself, the label doesn't have any money invested in it, and the only money they make is the markup on the vinyl you supply that they sell. So, you're really the low man on the totem pole when it comes to promotion.
 
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#53,099
bassboysam said:
if you decide you want to sell the RB let me know.
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Will do.

I think when I get the time later this weekend I need to see how these dirt pedals work out with the noise gate turned off. I'd like to be able to drop it entirely, swap out the Boss tuner for my old Donner true bypass tuner, and rely on the compressor for a buffer. I switched to the Boss tuner because I like long instrument cables and I wanted a quality buffer at the start of my signal chain, but if I can get away with dropping the noise gate then I can move the compressor to the first position and stick the Donner tuner wherever. That'd free up space to maybe add a flanger or something back in.
 
#53,100
BurtMacklinFBI said:
Will do.

I think when I get the time later this weekend I need to see how these dirt pedals work out with the noise gate turned off. I'd like to be able to drop it entirely, swap out the Boss tuner for my old Donner true bypass tuner, and rely on the compressor for a buffer. I switched to the Boss tuner because I like long instrument cables and I wanted a quality buffer at the start of my signal chain, but if I can get away with dropping the noise gate then I can move the compressor to the first position and stick the Donner tuner wherever. That'd free up space to maybe add a flanger or something back in.
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Moar pedals = moar better
 
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